Creature toy

ABSTRACT

IMAGINARY MONSTERS WHICH BE ASSEMBLED BY THREADING PLIABLE CREATURE PARTS WITH HOLES IN THEM, SUCH AS A HEAD WITH A MOUTH, ON AN ELONGATED BODY PART, SUCH AS ONE WHICH INCLUDES A LARGE TONGUE OR ANTENNA AT THE FRONT AND A TAIL AT THE REAR. MOLDS ARE PROVIDED TO MOLD THE PARTS.

wAH MING CHANG ETAL 3,584,409

June 15, 1971 CREATURE TOY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 23, 1968 mmm W rye Nfl a MME j, W 5 3 wf 6% W lll/11111111 "VIII, L

June 15, 1971 WAH M|NG CHANG ETAL 3,584,409

CREATURE TOY 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 23, 1968 ifflA/If United States Patent O 3,584,409 CREATURE TOY Wah Ming Chang, Altadena, and George E. Robson, Torrance, Calif., assignors to Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne,

Calif.

Filed Dec. 23, 1968, Ser. No. 786,125 Int. Cl. A63h 33/00 U.S. Cl. 46-22 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Imaginary monsters which can be assembled by threading pliable creature parts with holes in them, such as a head with a mouth, on an elongated body part, such as one which includes a large tongue or antenna at the front and a tail at the rear. Molds are provided to mold the parts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to toy figures and to molds for forming parts thereof.

Description of the prior art OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide fanciful creature parts which can be assembled into creatures in an interesting manner.

Another object is to provide molds for forming creature parts which can be assembled in a novel manner into creatures of a lifelike appearance.

In accordance with the present invention, creature body parts and molds for forming them are provided, which enable the construction of interesting creatures in a novel and entertaining manner. The body parts are formed of easily stretched material. They include natural parts such as a head with a hole at the mouth, which can be assembled on another natural part such as an enlarged forked tongue, by stretching the mouth Ihole until it passes the enlarged fork at the end of the tongue.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled creature with body parts formed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional -view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a creature 3,584,409 Patented June 15, 1971 ice with body parts formed in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional side elevation View of the creature of FIG. 5 in an assembled configuration;

FIG. 7 is a View taken on the line 7-7 of lFIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a mold for forming the body parts of the creature of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of parts of a creature constructed in accordance with still another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of a creature constructed in accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates a fanciful creature constructed of parts formed in accordance with the invention. The creature parts comprise an elongated main body part 10 and six appendages that include a head 12, tail 14, and four legs 16, 18, 20 and 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the main body part has a trunk section 24 and a long tongue 26. The tongue includes an enlarged forward end 28 and a narrowed rearward end 30. The head 12 has front and rear portions 32 and 34 and apertures 36 and 38 on each portion that -iit on the narrowed rear end 30 of the tongue. A rearwardly facing ledge 40 is formed at the intersection of the forward and rearward ends of the tongue, the ledge abutting the front portion of the head about the head aperture 36. Another, forwardly facing ledge 42 is formed at the intersection of the tongue and the 4wide trunk section, this ledge abutting the rear portion of the head about the head aperture 38. The lhead is of flexible material and tends to straighten out to a flat shape, so it is maintained in a rigid or stiff curved shape by abutment with the ledges 40 and 42 on the main body part 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the cross-section of the rear end 30 of the tongue and of the head aperture 38 are of substantially semi-circular form to prevent the Ihead from rotating. Other non-circular cross-sections can also be used.

The assembly of the head 12 on the main body part is accomplished by forcing it over the tongue. The walls about the head apertures 36 and 38 easily stretch to t over the enlarged fonward end 28 of the tongue, until they pass onto the narrowed rearward tongue end 30. The area 44 about the forward head aperture 36 has a design representing a mouth of the creature. Thus, this aperture, which is used for easy assembly, becomes a natural appearing part of the assembled creature, eliminating the need for auxiliary fastening apparatus that might cause an artificial creature appearance. Of course, the tongue 26, which serves as a support for holding the head, also is a natural appearing part of the creature.

The legs, such as leg 20, are attached to the trunk section of the main body part by narrowed rod portions 46 with enlarged ball-shaped ends 48, as shown in FIG. 3. The trunk section 2x4 has four flanges '50, two being located on either side, and each having an aperture 52, for receiving the rod portions of the legs. Assembly of a leg is accomplished by forcing the ball-shaped end 48 through the aperture 52. The 'ilexible construction of the trunk material allows it to expand to receive the ball and then close tightly over the rod portion, in the same manner as the head part expands over the tongue.

FIG. 8 illustrates a mold 54, with cavities 10A through 22A, for forming the body parts 10 through 22. A child iills the mold cavities with a liquid plastic material that hardens into a solid llexible material when heated. The mold is placed in a toy heating oven, and is later removed to yield the creature parts. A number of different molds are generally provided to form interchangeable parts that allow a child to place different heads, legs, or tails on a main body part, or to use a different main body part, to construct a wide range of fanciful creatures.

FIG. illustrates another creature construction, which includes an elongated main body part 6.0, head 62, and two trunk coverings 464 and 66. The main body part 60 has a narrow trunk section 68 which serves as a support for the head and trunk coverings. The head has two apertures 61 and `63, while each of the trunk coverings 64, 66 has an aperture 65, `67, respectively, all of the apertures being receivable on the narrow trunk section 68. An enlarged tail section 70 and tongue section 72 at either end of the main body part provides ledges 74 and 76l that can abut the other parts to retain them in place. All of the parts are made of a flexible, easily stretched material.

FIG. 6 illustrates the creature parts of lFIG. 5 in an assembled configuration. Assembly is accomplished by forcing each part over the enlarged tongue section 72, the flexibility of the parts allowing this to be easily aecomplished. It can be appreciated that a wide variety of different heads and trunk coverings can be employed in various combinations to construct a variety of creatures. The trunk coverings can have legs on them, such as the legs 75 of trunk covering l64, or legs can be attached in the manner shown for the creature of FIG. l.

While the ball-shaped legs can be used to connect creature parts, such as legs in the manner of the creature of PIG. l, it is sometimes diicult to squeeze the ball enough to insert it through a small hole. FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of a connector for assembling two parts 78 and 80. The connector comprises an arrow-head portion 82 on one part 78 and a square hole 84 on the other part 80. The arrow-head 82 can be inserted into the hole 84 by squeezing together the widest parts 86, 88 of the head, which is done with the thumb and index ngers. The extreme tip 90 serves as ay guide to enter the arrow into the hole, until the neck 92 is within the hole. In addition to the greater ease of insertion, this connector provides an embellishment to the creatures, reminiscent of a devils tail, which can add to their fanciful appearance.

FIG. illustrates still another creature, which has an antenna 94 at its front end that can be inserted through an antenna aperture 96 in the head 98. The antenna 94 extends forwardly from a trunk secton-100 which is narrowed to receive trunk coverings of the type shown at 64 and 66 in FIG. 5. A tail section 102 serves to retain the coverings.

Thus, the invention enables the facile construction of a variety of creatures of a natural appearing fanciful form. Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. A creature figure toy comprising:

a iii-st body part including an elongated member having a portion with a first cross-sectional area and a portion with a second, larger cross-sectional area, whereby a ledge is formed between said portions; and

a second body part of fiexible and easily stretched material, said second body part having an aperture, to enable said first and second body parts to be assembled by stretching the walls of said aperture over said portion having said second, larger cross-sectional area for retention by said ledge.

2. The figure toy described in claim 1 wherein:

said portion with said first crossasectional area is a trunk section forming a narrow support member and i said portion with said second, larger cross-sectional area is a tail portion; and said second body part is a trunk covering of exible and easily stretched material for stretching over said tail portion for retention on said support member.

3. The figure toy described in claim 1 wherein:

said second body part comprises a head part including a front portion, said aperture forming a mouth on said front portion, and a rear portion with a hole in it for stretching over said portion having said second cross-sectional area to enable said head part to be positioned on said portion with said first crosssectional area. 1

4. The iigure toy described in claim 3 wherein:

said first body part includes a third portion having a third cross-sectional area larger than said first and second cross-sectional areas for forming a trunk section, said portion having said second cross-sectional area simulating a tongue extending out of said mouth, said portion having said first cross-sectional area joining said tongue to said trunk section for forming a support member for said head part, said trunk section having a wide front portion forming a ledge to abut the walls of said hole in said rear portion of said head part.

S. An easily assembled creature figure toy, comprising:

a main body part simulating a trunk section and a long tongue for said creature, said tongue having a rst portion and a second, reduced portion, said reduced portion joining said `first portion to said trunk section, said trunk section and said first portion both exceeding said reduced portion in size, whereby a rst ledge is formed between said first and second portions and a second ledge is formed between said second portion and said trunk section; and

a head part of fiexible and easily stretched material, said head part having a front portion provided with an aperture simulating a mouth for said creature and a rear portion provided with a hole, said rear portion encompassing said reduced portion and abutting said second ledge, said front portion encompassing said reduced portion and abutting said first ledge, said ledges holding said head part in a predetermined, curved configuration with said tongue extending through said aperture in simulation of a tongue protruding from the mouth of a real creature.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,017,718 1/1962 Estes 46-22X 3,120,078 2/1964 Bessinger 46-31 3,271,895 9/ 1966 Sorensen 46-21X 3,365,198 1/1968 Hay 46-22X 3,375,604 4/1968 Alonso 46--22 3,422,565 1/1'969 Kentiield et al. 46-31X FOREIGN PATENTS 660,285 2/'1965 Belgium 47-42 1,035,709 8/1953 France 46-22 ANTONIO F. GUIDA, Primary Examiner D. L. WEINHOLD, JR., Assistant Examiner 

